A Quarter of Enterprises Experienced an Improvement in Their Overall Performance in Q3/2014

According to the results of a survey recently conducted by the PCBS, about a quarter of owners/managers of enterprises in Palestine reported an improvement in the overall performance of their enterprise in the third quarter of 2014 in comparison with the third quarter of the year. The figures are 29.2% and 2.3% for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip respectively. Meanwhile, 56.2% of owners/managers did not notice a change in the performance of their enterprise, while 17.7% experienced deterioration. In specific, 2.5% of enterprises reported an improvement in the production situation, 18.2% in employees’ productivity, and 20.9% in the financial situation.

Enterprise owners/managers are rather optimistic as 30.7% of them expect an improvement in the overall performance of their enterprise in the last quarter of 2014: 24.3% in the West Bank and 79.1% in the Gaza Strip. The poor performance of enterprises in Gaza in Q3/2014 and the high optimism for Q4/2014 are consequences of the devastating war which Israel launched on Gaza in early July and the expected reconstruction after.

The survey reveals that owners/managers of West Bank enterprises are generally satisfied with the provision of basic services with the following satisfaction levels: 84.6% with electricity, 70.5% with water, 67.4% with the quality of roads, 76.3% with transport and communications, and 56.0% with access to industrial areas. The situation is drastically different in the Gaza Strip as the majority of enterprises there are dissatisfied with the available infrastructure, exhibiting the following dissatisfaction rates: 95.3% with electricity, 83.7% with water, 81.3% with the quality of roads, 72.1% with transport and communications, and 55.8% with access to industrial zones. Similarly, whereas West Bank owners/managers are in large satisfied with the provisions of the judicial system, conflict resolution facilities, laws, and regulations, the majority of Gaza Strip owners/managers are not.

In terms of obstacles which enterprises face in the export of their products, the Israeli occupation and its policies emerge as the main impediment.